


Highness In the Sky

by HexesAndBows



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairytale, F/M, Let’s pretend Wildmount runs on fairytale logic ok kids, The Light Princess AU, They’ll all show up eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 13:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17060366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HexesAndBows/pseuds/HexesAndBows
Summary: With Queen Marion spending every moment she could with her precious daughter, her consort Babenon took it upon himself to handle any task that didn’t require immediate attention. This included the invitations to the grand feast, of which every one was written with his own hand. Clever as he was, Babenon was not perfect, so naturally someone was forgotten. It was unfortunate chance that led to it being Lord Trent Ikithon of the Dwendalian Empire.—In which a princess under a unique curse brings levity to a solemn Zemnian wizard who keeps her grounded in return.





	Highness In the Sky

Long ago, in the land of Nicodranas, there lived a beautiful and kind queen named Marion. Though she was a tiefling, and therefore quite devilish in appearance, her people loved her for her wisdom and benevolence. Under her rule, the kingdom had grown quite prosperous. She had even had the good fortune of marrying for love to a charming and clever man named Babenon. She had no reason to find her life wanting, and yet she still found herself not quite happy. The one thing Marion wanted more than anything in the world was a child of her own. Babenon, clever as he was, would try to lighten her mood. “I apologize for being a poor husband, my love. Every noble of our acquaintance has been able to give their wives children, some more than they can keep track of, and yet I cannot give you even one. I fear you may consider yourself ill used.”

His humor did little to lift her mood, but Marion was kind enough to play along for his sake. “I would take even a daughter, dear heart. I fear at this point a son may be beyond even your capabilities.”

And so life went on for the queen and her consort until, at long last, Marion gave birth to a daughter. The little princess Jester was a beautiful combination of her parents, with her father’s blue skin and her mother’s tiefling heritage. Everyone in the kingdom was overjoyed at the long overdue birth that preparations for a grand banquet were soon put into action. Marion spent every moment either planning the celebration or fawning over her little daughter, leaving Babenon to pick up where she left off. Knowing that this was the happiest he’d seen his love in years, he willingly took up any tasks that didn’t require her immediate attention. This included the invitations, of which every one was written with his own hand. Clever as he was, Babenon was not perfect, so naturally someone was forgotten. It was unfortunate chance that led to it being Lord Trent Ikithon of the Dwendalian Empire.

Lord Ikithon held no personal dislike for the royal family of Nicodranas as a whole, but he was a proud man, and therefore viewed his being forgotten as a personal slight. He was also a vindictive man who took great delight in enacting vengeance upon those he believed had wronged him. Worst of all, he was a spiteful man who took great pains to make his revenge as hurtful as possible, no matter how insignificant the supposed slight actually was. And so Lord Ikithon decided that he would indeed attend the celebration, invitation or no, and make the whole family regret the day they ever insulted him in such a fashion.

So he made the long journey to Nicodranas in his best carriage wearing his best robes. Upon arrival, he was greeted warmly by Babenon (who had forgotten he’d forgotten him) and Marion (who was unaware he'd been forgotten at all), and he attended the feast as if nothing had happened. He sat patiently, watching and waiting as everyone cooed and fawned over the little blue princess. At last, just when her nurse was about to take her to bed, Lord Ikithon asked to hold her. He took the little princess into his arms and discreetly smudged some enchanted water across her forehead. He then turned about in place three times and muttered to her so softly that most around him missed it completely —

“Light of spirit, by my charms,  
Light of body, every part,  
Never weary human arms —  
Only crush thy parents’ heart!”

Those that heard dismissed it as a strange Dwendalian nursery rhyme, though they couldn't explain the quick shudder that went through them. Little Jester began to laugh almost immediately, a far cry from the almost sleepy mood she’d been in only moments before. Lord Ikithon smiled at her, but it wasn’t a kind and loving smile. The look in his eyes reflected malice and the smile on his face felt cruel. The nurse took the child and nearly stumbled into Ikithon out of shock. Flustered, she quickly regained her composure. She had to be imagining things, or perhaps was struck with temporary paralysis. She even considered if she’d had too much to drink, despite purposefully avoiding most of the alcohol present. Anything to excuse the strange sensation she was experiencing.

She could not feel the baby in her arms.

But she held the little princess tight against her breast and said nothing as she hurried away, wanting to put as much distance between them and the strange lord as possible. Ikithon, for his part, didn't even watch her leave. He simply reclaimed his seat at table and continued eating. The horrible deed was done, and all he had to do was wait.

The nurse was so shaken by whatever she had experienced that she was extra attentive while putting Jester to bed. She did her job so well, in fact, that no one was aware of the change in the princess until early in the morning when Marion came to collect her. Having held her almost constantly since her birth, she knew the moment she held her that something was wrong. She bounced her up to test her weight, but her grip wasn't tight enough to stop Jester from floating out of her hands. The momentum sent the little princess flying up through the air in an explosion of delighted shrieks and giggles. Marion could only collapse in shock as she watched her precious daughter slowly settle just a foot below the ceiling.

Marion found her voice at last and screamed loud enough to alert most everyone in the palace. Guards rushed into the room to find their queen on the floor and the little princess hovering in the air, laughing without a care in the world. The guards gazed up in bewilderment before regaining their wits and scrambling to fetch her. In the end, it took one sitting on the shoulders of another to finally grab hold of the hem of Jester’s gown. In all the ruckus, no one noticed Lord Ikithon calmly depart in his coach, quietly reveling in the chaos left in his wake. All attention was on the hysterical queen clutching her child for dear life.

Jester could only laugh and laugh, unaware that she had been robbed of all gravity.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the cast of Critical Role for getting me out of my very very long writing funk with your fantastic show.
> 
> This one goes out to the widojest server for all of us supporting each other’s creativity. You guys rock, for real.
> 
> This is based on The Light Princess by George MacDonald, which I highly recommend if you love fairytales.


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